Packaging machine



Nov. 5, 1957 D. E. MQCARTY 8 PACKAGING MACHINE:

Filed June 2, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet l IN V EN TOR.

ATTORNEYS.

' Dule E. McCarty Nov. 5, 1957 I D. E. MocARTY 2,811,818

PACKAGING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed. June 2, 1953 I Tlg 1E] TTORN EY5 Nov. 5, 1957 D. E. MOCARTY I PACKAGING MACHINE I5 Sheets-Sheet 3Filed June 2, 1955 INVEN TOR. 7 Dale E. McCarty ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent ball PACKAGING MACHINE Dale E. McCarty, Fostoria,Ohio Application June 2, 1953, SerialNo. 359,091

Claims. (01. 53-321 My invention relates to a packaging machine. It hasm de, more particularly, with a machine for packaging a commodity in thedisplay package disclosed in my copending application Serial No.338,687, filed February 25, 1953, now Patent No. 2,754,959.

This application is a continuation-in-part of said application SerialNo. 338,687, now Patent No. 2,754,959.

In the copending application Serial No. 338,687, now Patent No.2,754,959, I disclose the basic steps of a process of packaging acommodity in a display package of the type disclosed and claimed in saidapplication. The present application is directed to a machine forperforming that basic process.

The display package disclosed in said copending application is adaptedto display the commodity, for example, sliced lunchmeat, in anattractive and sanitary manner. The package consists of a convex base,specifically a dome-shape disc, upon which the meat is supported, atransparent protective covering or film which completely encloses themeat supported on the base, and extends over theedges of the base, and aretaining memher, in the form of a grooved-ring, into which the edge ofthe disc snaps to grip and seal the film between the edge of the discand the ring.

In the following description and attached drawings, I disclose a machinefor performing the steps of the process for assembling theabove-indicated package and contents.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a bottom perspective view of the assembled package andcontents.

Figure 2 is a top perspective view of a pile of lunchmeat to be packagedinto the complete package shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 shows a roll of the protective film with a piece cut therefromfor incorporation in the package.

Figure 4 shows the meat of Figure 2 supported on the piece of film ofFigure 3.

Figure 5 is a top perspective view of the retaining ring to be assembledinto the package shown in Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view taken through the ring along line6--6 of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the concave side of the disc to beassembled into the package shown in Figure l, the dome-shape disc beingin inverted position from that which it occupies in the assembledpackage.

Figure 8 is a vertical sectional view through the disc taken along line8--8 of Figure 7.

Figure 9 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in verticalsection of the press used for assembling the parts of the package toenclose the meat.

Figure 10 shows the press of Figure 9 with the retaining ring in thecomplemental die in the press, the meat on the film disposed within thering on the flexible support of the press, and with the disc over themeat, all preparatory to pressing the ring into the disc and causing itto snap into the groove therein.

Figure 11 is a view similar to Figure 10 but showing ice the disc infinal position in the retaining groove in the ring.

Figure 12 shows the step of trimming off the excess part of the filmprotruding downwardly from between the ring and the edge of the disc.

Figure 13 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through a portion ofthe assembled package, showing it after the trimming operation has beencompleted.

Figure 14 is a view showing the assembled package of Figure 13 beingdipped to shrink the film thereof.

Figure 15 is a view similar to Figure 13 but showing the condition ofthe protruding edge of the film after dipping of the package as inFigure 14.

In the drawings, I have shown in Figure l, the assembled package whichis disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 338,687. Thispackage consists of the base member 10, the protective covering 11, andthe retaining ring12, which are assembled around the commodity C shownas a pile or stack of sliced lunchmeat.

The base member 10 is dome-shaped, considering the package in normal orupright position as shown in Figure 1, it being shown in detail inFigures 7 and 8 where it is shown inverted. This base 10 is preferablyof a plastic material which has sufficient flexibility or yieldabilityto permit snapping into the retaining ring 12 as hereinafter described.The disc is preferably formed of a thermosetting material, such as anurea formaldehyde type resin which will not be affected by the hotliquid in the package dipping operation which will be at a temperatureranging from to 205 F. To give it a greater degree of flexibility tofacilitate insertion into the ring 12 without cracking, the disc 10 ismade thinner along an annular area about midway radially between itscenter and its circumference, as indicated by the numeral 10a in Figure8. The lower curvature of the disc is of a definite continuous curvatureand is indicated by the numeral 10b. The disc 10 is preferably, thoughnot necessarily, translucent. The lower corner of the edge of the disc10 is a sharp knife edge 17 while its upper corner is rounded asindicated at 18.

The ring 12 is preferably made of the same type of resin as the disc 10but it need not be translucent. It should be of a type of resin also soas not to be adversely affected by the temperature of the liquid in thesubsequent dipping operation. It may be of a different color plasticthan the disc 10,for contrast. It will be noted from Figure 6 that thering 12 is provided with a lower skirt 13 which is flared outwardly toguide the disc 10 thereinto, as will later appear. Spaced upwardly fromits lower edge, the ring 12 is provided with a disc-receiving groove 16,the ring being provided with an inwardly offset inwardly tapering lip 15above the groove 16.

The protective film material 11 is a transparent ma terial which willshrink when heated to a suitable temperature. A thermoplastic resin, ofthe vinylidene chloride type, is suitable for this purpose and, morespecifically, one of the Saran type, manufactured by Dow ChemicalCompany and 'known as No. Q853 has been found by me to be particularlysuitable. This type will shrink when heated instantaneously to atemperature ranging from 195 to 205 F.

The protective film 11 may come in the form of a roll 110, as shown inFigure 3, from which a suitable square section 11b may be cut. Thesection 11b will receive the pile of meat C (Figure 2) which will beplaced thereon as shown in Figure 4, it being noted that the section 1lbwill be of substantially greater area than that of the meat.

To assemble the disc 18, the film section 11b, and the ring 12 alongwith the stack of meat C to form the complete package, I use a pressarrangement illustrated in Figures 9 to 11.

in inserting the disc into the ring 12.

This press arrangement includes the vertically movable plunger 20 whichis provided with a head 21 that has a lower surface of special contourto facilitate snapping of the disc into the ring 12. The plunger may bemoved vertically by suitable means (not shown) and the lowermostposition of the head 21 is limited by a stop 22 on the plunger 20engaging with a stop arm 23 carried by a suitable adjacent fixturesupport 24. The stop arm 23 is vertically adjustable on the support 24by a pin and slot connection 25 so that the lowermost position of thehead 21 can be varied in accordance with the thickness of the stack ofmeat being packaged. Obviously, different amounts of the meat will bepackaged at different times and the stop arm can be reset wheneverdesired.

from the die 27.

Within the hollow base member 26 is a supporting plate 28 which iscarried by the compression springs 29 so that it can yield downwardly inthe base. The upper surface of the plate 28 preferably carries a pad 30of sponge or foam rubber or the like. The upper surface of the pad 30 isnormally below the level of the die 27 as shown in Figure 9.

In assembling the package, after the ring 12 is inserted in the die 27,the meat C on the film section 11a is dropped through the ring 12 ontothe pad 30 as shown in Figure 10. It will be noted that the meat issmaller in diameter than the ring 12, so it will readily sliptherethrough, and that the film section 11b is of sufiicient area toextend upwardly over the die-supported ring 12 in all directions. Thedisc 10 is now placed on the stack of meat, on the top surface thereof,as shown in Figure 10, which will later be at the bottom of theassembled package.

Next, as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 11, the

plunger head 21 is moved downwardly until the stop 22 engages the stop23 and then as the plunger is started in its upward travel again, theedge of the disc 10 snaps into the groove 16 of the ring 12. The contourof the lower surface of the head 21 is definitely related to thecurvature ltlb of the disc 10 to obtain the proper action It will benoted from Figures 10 and 11 that the lower surface of the head 21includes the central relatively flat area 31 and the upwardly beveledannular area 32 which extends from the area 31 almost to the outer edgeof the head 21. The outer edge of the head 21 at its lower corner isrounded as indicated at 33. The outer annular area 32 is inclinedupwardly more sharply than the upward curvature 10b of the adjacentsurface of the disc 10. Consequently, with the central area 31 of thehead 21 in contact with the surface 10b of the disc 10, as shown 'byfull lines in Figure 11, there will be an annular space 34 between theouter portion of the disc and the angled annular area 32 of the head 21.Consequently, as the disc 10 is pushed downwardly by the head its outerportion will flex upwardly until it contacts the head area 32, as shownby dotted lines in Figure 11. This will cause a slight decrease in theoverall radius of disc 10 and at this instant the stops 22 and 23 willhave located the disc at the level of the groove 16 in the ring 12. Thena slight upward movement of the head 21 and the resulting correspondingmovement of surface 32 away from surface 1% will result in the edge ofthe disc 10 snapping into the ring groove 16 where it will be securelyretained.

It will be apparent that during the pressing operation, as the pressureon the disc 10 and the underlying stack of meat C is increased, thesupporting plate 28 moves downwardly against the force of springs 29 andpermits the meat to drop downwardly through the ring 12 from 4 itsposition in Figure 10 to its position in Figure 11 Where the edge of thedisc is snapped into the groove 16 in the ring. Furthermore, the pad 30being readily compressible will conform to the curvature imparted to thecontacting surface of the protective film and the associated surface ofthe meat C as shown in Figure 11.

Because of the dome-shape of the disc and the thin section 10a, the discwill have the desired flexibility so that it can conform to the shape ofthe plunger head 21 without cracking. The sharp knife edge 17 on thedisc will aid in gripping the film while the rounded edge 18 preventstearing when the film is subsequently shrunk.

As shown in Figure 11 an excess of the film section 11b will extendoutwardly from between the ring 12 and the edge of the disc 10.

The excess of the film section 11b is removed as shown in.Figure 12. Thecutter for performing this operation may be a driven cutting disc 35 ofsuch a size that it will slip upwardly within the flared skirt 13 of thering 12 to a level spaced slightly below the retaining groove 16thereof. The base 36 which carries the disc 35 may also have an annularupstanding flange 37 which aids in centering the package relative tocutting disc 35. After the cutting operation, the film will appear as inFigure 13 where it will be noted that it has the downwardly extendingshort skirt 110.

After the package is assembled as indicated above, it is subjected to aheating operation to cause the film 16 to shrink. This heating must beinstantaneous to prevent the film from being ruptured and to shring ituniformly which will not occur with dry heat. Therefore,

it is desirable to use a spraying or dipping operation where the film issubjected to a hot liquid which is at a temperature ranging from 195 to205 F. I prefer to dip the entire package in a bath 38 of hot water.This will cause the plastic film to shrink. The skirt of the film willshrink and roll up to form a continuous bead 11d (Fig. 15) which willcooperate with the knife edge 17 to form an effective seal at such edge.The convex upper surface of the disc 10 will push upwardly against thebottom of the stack of meat C and will cause its upper surface totightly contact with the film. Since the film 11 will tightly andsmoothly contact the upper surface of the stack C of meat, the uppersurface of the meat will assume the convex contour of the disc 10, asshown in Figure 1. Because of this contact, no condensation can developbetween the surface of the meat and the film and, therefore, the meatwill be displayed attractively regardless of temperature variations. Theprotective film 11 will remain under tension so that the tight contactbetween the film and the upper surface of the meat will be maintained.The meat will be so sealed in the package that any substantial shrinkagethereof will be precluded because the moisture cannot escape therefrom.The groove 16 and the inwardly offset portion 15 of the ring 12 abovethe groove will eliminate any possibility of the disc 10 moving bodilyupwardly within the ring during shrinkage of the film 11.

Although I have specified that the package assembled is of annular form,it is to be understood, as indicated in said copending application, thatit can be square or have other outlines.

The machine I have provided for assembling the display package issimple, efiicient and sanitary and can be used by unskilled persons.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A press for assembling an article in a package consisting of a convexdisc, a flared retaining ring with a retaining groove, and a protectivefilm, which comprises a complemental die for supporting the ring withits flare upwardly, a downwardly yieldable support below the dieuponlwhich the film with the article thereon is rested within theringand with the film extending upwardly over the ring in all directions andalso with the disc on the top S rf ce of the article with its concaveside uppermost, a

plunger having a convex lower surface for engaging the disc and pushingit downwardly along with the article until it is at such a level thatits edge will be positioned in said retaining groove of the ring, saidplunger being shaped to a more sharp contour than the disc so that thediameter of the disc will be reduced as the plunger moves downwardly topermit it to fit into said groove, and stop means for limiting downwardmovement of the plunger.

2. A press according to claim 1 wherein the plunger has a convex surfacecomprising a central flat area and an annular upwardly angled area.

3. A press for assembling an article in a package consisting of a convexdisc, at flared retaining ring with a retaining groove, and a protectivefilm; which comprises a complemental die for supporting the ring withits flare upwardly, a downwardly yieldable support below the die uponwhich the film with the article thereon is rested within the ring andwith the film extending upwardly over the ring in all directions andalso with the disc on the top surface of the article with its concaveside uppermost, and a plunger having a convex lower surface for engagingthe disc and pushing it downwardly along with the article until it is atsuch a level that its edge will be positioned in said retaining grooveof the ring, said plunger being shaped to a more sharp contour than thedisc so that the diameter of the disc will be reduced as the plungermoves downwardly to permit it to fit into said groove.

4. A press for assembling an article in a package consisting of a convexdisc, a flared retaining ring with a retaining groove, and a protectivefilm; which comprises a complemental die for supporting the ring withits flare outwardly, means for supporting the film with the articlethereon in concentric relationship to the ring and with the filmextending outwardly over the ring in all directions and also with thedisc having its concave side resting on the article, a plunger supportedin axial alignment with the ring-supporting die and having a convexsurface for engaging the disc and pushing it along with the article andfilm into the flared ring until the disc is at such an axial positionthat its edge will be positioned in said retaining groove of the ring,said plunger being shaped to a more sharp contour than the disc so thatthe diameter of the disc will be reduced as the plunger moves into saiddie to permit the edge of the disc to snap into said groove, and meansfor moving said plunger and die axially relatively to cause the disc tosnap into said groove.

5. A press for assembling an article in a package consisting of a convexbase having a flexible edge, a flared retaining member with a retaininggroove formed therein, and a flexible protective film; which comprises adie for supporting the retaining member with its flare outwardly, meansfor supporting the film with the article thereon in centeredrelationship to the die and with the film extending outwardly over theretaining member in all directions and also with the base having itsconcave side resting on the article, a plunger supported in axialalignment with the die and having a surface for engaging the base andpushing it along with the article and film into the flared retainingmember until the base is at such an axial position that its edge willsnap into said groove, and means for moving said plunger and die axiallyrelatively to cause the flexible edge of the base to snap into thegroove of the retaining member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS927,801 Jenkins July 13, 1909 2,032,351 Chaplin Mar. 3, 1936 2,206,635Hays et al. July 2, 1940 2,376,076 Newton May 15, 1945 OTHER REFERENCESModern Packaging, Sept., 1950, page 94.

